Chapter Text
“Hello?”
Nothing.
“Hello?”
Jiyong might have thought there was something wrong with the line if he hadn’t heard the faintest rustle on the other end.
“Listen, if this is a prank call or something-” he trailed off with pursed lips. The military and the fans changed him- he was no longer confrontational or threatening at all. He didn’t even make music anymore. There wasn’t an official disbanding, but it was more framed by the other two as a ‘mental health break’, though they had a scheduled studio meet-up in a few days. He tried to convince himself that it was for the better, but sometimes he couldn’t help but wish he still had a single bone in his body that could stand up to someone again.
“Hyung.”
He blinked a few times.
“Who is this?”
Silence again.
“Hello? Listen, I…” Jiyong swallowed anxiously. “I don’t do fan-calls.”
“Hyung… it’s me.”
The man paused, eyebrows furrowed. “Who…?” He couldn’t place whether the voice was familiar or not, not for sure at least.
“Haven’t you been keeping up with things?”
Yes, of course Jiyong had been keeping up with the news, or at least, Instagram reels. He was one of those people Gen-Z call ‘chronically online’, what with his unconstrained distribution of ‘likes’ and niche meme references. But what would any of that have to do with anything this caller could be referring to? Unless it wasn’t something online… He carded through any news or information he had received lately, but nothing seemed important enough for a phone call…
Jiyong suddenly froze, eyes wide with every muscle in his body tense.
Absolutely not. It couldn’t be. He had blocked out the news as soon as it hit him the other day.
“S… Seungri?”
But it so could be. Yes, while the voice sounded quite different, hushed even, it could definitely be him.
“Hyung,” the voice began again, but the rest of the sentence was lost at that confirmation when Jiyong let the phone drop out of his hand and clatter to the floor.
His breathing grew shallow and rapid, and he pulled his knees up to his chest, feeling like the air was becoming thinner in the room. Seungri had promised not to contact them again right before he went to prison. He promised- why was he calling?!
Like a baby, tears spilled down his cheeks before he knew it, and he cried until the phone turned off.
SUNSHINE LINE
Sat, 15:42
Dae: he’s grown so big!
YB: Haha yeah, he grows out of his clothes every few weeks
Today, 22:32
GD: im sure you’ve all heard the news, and i know we’ve been avoiding talking about it.. hate to mention it, but has seungri contacted any of you?
YB: No not me
Dae: thankfully not, idk if i could handle it if he did
YB: I don’t think any of us could handle it if he did
GD: okay..
YB: Did he contact you?
GD: no
And he left it at that- no lengthy explanation. He just pulled up his sleeve and wiped at his puffy eyes to dry them, and curled up further in his bed, lying in that position until he fell asleep.